Part 15 (1/2)
Others, again, were dragging along immense rafts of timber, cut from far distant forests, destined to construct navies in widely scattered lands; while craft of all sorts were steering their course up the strea place No sooner had the carriages stopped than a troop of villagers were seen approaching along the street, so in their hands large dishes In one dish was a large black loaf, in another a pile of salt, on a third a jug of water The th and thickness, and were habited in long sheepskin garave them a comfortable, substantial look They all bowed low as they approached the Count, but he entreated theht before him
”We coratulations of our village on your co to present you such poor food as we can supply, according to the ancient custom of our country,” said the chiefthanked them in a few kind words, cut some of the brown bread, which he dipped in the salt, and then drank a draught of the water, which was of delicious coolness It was drawn, they told him, from a well celebrated for its purity, and which, even in the height of summer, had always ice on the shaft This ceremony over, the Count and his friends drove on to hisavenue of lime-trees conducted them up to the house, which was of considerable size, and surrounded by all descriptions of out-houses, in anything but a flourishi+ng condition The mansion was built partly of brick and partly of wood, with verandahs and galleries, and steps running round outside it, and odd little projections, and bits of roofs apparently covering nothing, and for no other object than to serve as orna many los, and followed by a troop of servants in faded blue liveries, all of the to imitate his movements with very ridiculous ill success The Count could scarcely restrain his laughter
”I shall have plenty of work here to get things shi+pshape,” said he, turning to Cousin Giles ”My uncle, from whom I inherited this property, was a noble of the old school State with hireatest importance He loved to make a show--not that he really cared about it hie amount of vanity, but that he considered it necessary to nity of his order Thus he kept up this useless troop of lazy varlets in faded liveries, when a good house-steward and two active footmen would have served hiht-about very soon, and try to employ the they entered the house Everything within betokened the old-fashi+oned taste of the forh-backed chairs, huge, badly gilt picture-fra daubs of most incomprehensible subjects, ive a correct reflection of the hue hall with a table down the centre, on which an ample meal was spread At the upper end was a profusion of silver and glass, and two huge salt-cellars Below the salt-cellars were plates and knives and forks of a far more humble description The house-steward came forith many a bow, and inquired when his lord would condescend to dine ”As soon as dinner can be ready,” was the answer; ”but coo up to our roouests were shown by the house-steward to their bedroorandeur had evidently been reserved for the public apart-hall, when the Count took his seat at the head of the board, and his guests arranged themselves on either side A number of other persons then came in, retainers of so theown, yellow boots, a dark vest, and light hair straggling over his shoulders He bowed low, as did the others, to the Barin, the lord, and took his seat huravity of judges about to condelad that you have had an opportunity of seeing how Russians of the old school lived,” observed the Count, turning to Cousin Giles ”I could not endure this sort of thing long, but it would not be wise to es I shall in future only dine in state on great occasions, when it is politic to exhibit myself in public We cannot all of a sudden introduce the freedolish Ah! You should indeed value your institutions, both public and do in seeing his overseers, and receiving deputations froes on his estate, who ca of bread and salt He arranged, however, a them with horses to ride, and boats on a lake a couple of versts away froe supply of fish in a very short time In the afternoon several visitors, who had been invited to e and small, of estates ten, twenty, and thirty versts away The Count's own estate extended thirty versts in one direction, so that he had not lish fluently, and had seen the world Fred and Harry were delighted with thereen, they were so polite and polished, and so full of inforreen declared that he should be proud to be a Russian, to be like the the winter,” exclaimed Baron Shakertoskey ”It is then we are most full of life and vivacity
Then nature kindly for ses are thrown across streams, by means which far surpass the art of ht to market in the forms which they held when alive Fish stand up on their tails, as if about to leap out of the baskets where they are placed Sheep, oxen, and calves, rabbits and hares, look as if they could still run about, and fowls rear up their heads as if still denizens of the poultry-yard A true Russian winter is only to be found at Moscow or in the interior At Saint Petersburg, owing to the neighbourhood of the Baltic, the hich blows over it frequently produces a thaw or a partial thaw, even in the middle of winter Thus, as the wind shi+fts, so does the temperature rise and fall With a ind comes rain, and with a north-east a bitter cold; other winds bring fogs, and soht frosty days, so that the inhabitants of that great city are liable to wind and rain in January, and frost and snow in April Still the therrees below zero, which it seldorees, we rees This is a difference of temperature which would dreadfully try the constitution, did not people take very great precautions against it by the mode in which they warm their houses and clothe theins, it coht earnest, and does not leave off at the beck of any hich in in October, and to end in May--a period of six reatest admirer of ice and snow We then, once for all, don our fur cloaks, caps, and boots, without which we never show our noses out of doors till the beginning of spring We then also light our stoves and paste up our s You have seen a Russian stove? It is worth exah it takes a long tier period without any additional fuel The interior is like an oven, with a chi as the wood continues to blaze the chimney is kept open, but as soon as it is reduced to ashes, the passage to it is closed, and the hot air is allowed to pass by numerous channels into the rooh pipes over hot plates in the stove, and in this way fresh air, properly charged with oxygen, is supplied to the inhabitants In large houses the e or in an ante-room, while the front is a lasses or other furniture One or e of the stoves They fill theht the In the sleeping-rooht In the houses of the poor, one stove of huge proportions serves for every purpose It serves not only to heat the hut, but to bake their bread, and for all sorts of cookery, and to dry their clothes, articles of which are generally seen hung up round it Benches are placed before it, where the inmates sit to warm themselves, while on a platform above it are placed beds, where, wrapped up in sheepskins, they indulge in idleness and heat--the greatest luxuries they are able to enjoy To all our houses we have double e paste paper over every crevice by which air may enter, and we fill up the lower part of the interval between the ts with sand, into which we stick artificial flowers, to remind us that suain return Two or three doors also enerally be passed before the inside of the house is reached Thus, you see, in spite of the bitter cold in the outer world, we contrive to construct an inner one where we can make ourselves tolerably co rapped up in furs, and then we move fro exposed any length of tihted in front of the places of amusement and the palaces of the Emperor and nobility, where the drivers and servantsfor their reat cold there is little wind; and people, as long as they are warmly clad and in motion, have no reason to fear its effects, but unhappy is the wretch who is overtaken by sleep while exposed to it His death is certain Death thus produced is said to be accoreeable sensations, at least so say those who have been partially frozen and recovered, but I would rather not try the experirees below zero, it is time to be cautious No one shows his nose out of doors unless co as fast as he can--keeping a watchful look-out after that prominent and important feature of the human countenance As no unusual sensation accompanies the first attack of frost on the nose, it is difficult to guard against it A warning is, however, given by the peculiar white hue which it assun is observed by a passer-by, he gives notice to the person attacked 'Oh, father! Father! Thy nose, thy nose!' he will cry, rushi+ng up to him with a handful of snohich he will rub the feature attacked, if, on a nearer inspection, he sees that it is in danger Of course people generally take the best possible care of their noses, so that the dreaded catastrophe does not often occur We wrap up warmly, and leave only the eyes and mouth and nose exposed, so that nearly all the heat which escapes froh that channel, and thus effectually keeps it warm
”We Russians are not so fond of violent exercise as are you English, and therefore we depend on the heat of our stoves and the thickness of our clothing to keep ourselves waret that our servants are not so substantially clad as ourselves, and while we are entertaining ourselves in-doors, they, foolish fellows, fall asleep, and get frozen to death outside the palace or theatre, or wherever we may happen to be Every year, also, people lose their lives by getting drunk and falling asleep out of doors They ht the therain In su is all very well, but in winter it is enjoyable; no dust, no dirt, no scorching heat Well covered up ared rapidly on by our prancing steeds over the hard snow, fleet al, and like the bird directly across the country, where in sued over, and we journey along the bed of water-courses; which in spring are swept by foa torrents The thick mantle of ice and snohich clothes our country forhhich the inhabitants of other lands may in vain desire The snohich seereatest and most valued friend
It is like a fur cloak; it keeps in the warenerated in the bosom of the earth, and shelters the bulbs and roots and seeds fro cold, which would otherwise destroy the else we have to dread a snowless winter; then truly the earth is shut up by an iron grasp, and tall trees, and shrubs, and plants wither and die under its , the ruthless cold deeply penetrates it, and s suffer from its effects Oh, yes, we have reason to pray earnestly to be delivered from a snowless winter?”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Sports in Winter--Bear and Wolf Hunting--Story of the Miller and the Wolves--Other Tales about Wolves--Shooting Wolves fro up of the Ice on the Volga--Dreadful Sight of a Boat's Crew carried aith the Ice--Loss of an old Man on the Ice--The Russian Bath--Trial of Vocal Powers of Two Musicians
”But have you no sports in the winter season?” asked Fred ”I thought that the country abounded in bears and wolves, and deer and game of all sorts They are the sort of animals I should like to look after”
”We have an abundance of bears and wolves, and of s our comfortable homes to shoot thehbourhood by his depredations, the villagers turn out in a body to destroy him; and wolves are the eneer, a flock of these are very dangerous, and numberless persons have fallen victi to wolves occurred near this a feinters ago
”A miller, Nicholas Ere froe, a distance of some twenty versts or so He and his wife sat in the front part of the sledge; their children, well covered with skins, were behind, except one, which was in its mother's arh a forest, and partly across an open plain, now exhibiting one unbroken sheet of snow The children were laughing cheerily, for though the frost was excessive, there was no wind, and the cold was scarcely felt They had accoood rate
”Nicholas Ereood horses, which kne to go over the ground A common peasant would have driven but one, but he required theether on what they had seen in the tohen they were startled by a sharp yelp at no great distance off
”'Is that a dog who has lost his master?' asked the miller's wife
”'No, wife, no,' answered the miller 'Heaven protect us!'
”As he spoke there was a rushi+ng sound heard from far off in the forest
At first it was very faint; then it grew louder and louder Their sagacious steeds knew too hat caused the sound, and, snorting with fear, they started off at full gallop There was no necessity for Nicholas to urge them on He, also, too well knew the cause of the sound Anxiously he looked over his shoulder Another yelp was heard, louder and sharper than before They were just entering on the plain
Another and another yelp rang in their ears, and at the saing frohted steeds tore on It ith difficulty the ether His wife clasped her infant closer to her boso, and then shrunk down again shi+vering with fear, for they had an instinctive dread of the danger which threatened them The stout miller, who scarcely before had ever knohat fear was, turned pale, as the sharp, eager yelps of the infernal pack sounded nearer and nearer behind hi whip and a thick stick He clenched his teeth, and his breath carew ed on his steeds, yet they wanted, as I said, no induceer as well as theirround her heart All they had to trust to was speed The nearest _isba_ where they could hope for aid was yet a long way off; yet rapidly as they dashed onward, the hungry pack were fleeter still A miracle alone could save them--from man they could expect no help
”'On!--on! My trusty steeds,' shouted the e! We ood saints; they ive an account of some of these brutes!'
”In vain, in vain the horses stretched their sinews to the ute brutes were faster still
The miller's shouts and cries seemed for a short ti thickly around the sledge, singling out its inmates for their prey
”The poor children shrieked with terror as they beheld the fiery eyes, the open ues of the fierce brutes close to the sledge They fancied that they could feel their hot breath on their cheeks--the terrible fangs of the aniain they piteously shrieked out--
”'Oh, father!--oh, mother, mother! Save us!'